1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pressurized sprayers for the application of fertilizer, insecticides, fungicides, etc. to plants, vegetables, trees and lawns, that permits the tank containing the spray solution to be set in one spot central to the area to be sprayed. The operator then uses a small diameter spray hose attached to said tank to spray within the radius permitted by the length of the long (30′+ or −) spray hose.
2. Description of the Background
There are many pressurized liquid spraying devices that are presently available on the market. Such sprayers range from back-pack sprayers that pump the liquid directly as it is being dispensed, to gasoline or electric powered sprayers for commercial use. Compressed air pump-sprayers are the common denominator for home gardens and are found in garden and hardware stores for spraying small amounts of liquid chemical solution from a tank under pressure. A hand pump is used to supply air pressure to the inside of the tank to pressurize the liquid to be dispensed from the tank, the pressure declines and it is necessary that the hand pump be repeatedly operated to rebuild the pressure. These sprayers are convenient inasmuch as they are completely portable, but they are constantly in need of pumping and must be carried while in use. Alternatively, the powered commercial sprayers never need pumping and are well suited for spraying a wide area efficiently. However, these are usually large devices on wheels, pulled by hand or tractor, expensive, and are not well suited for small gardens.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,852 to the present inventor discloses a unitary pressurizing tank with a cap (Lacy Cap) that connects to a standard garden hose and uses household water pressure to pressurize the tank's contents. The cap includes a flexible bladder for insertion into the tank. The cap further includes a handle that can be used for carrying the tank and providing access to inside of the bladder. This type of sprayer is much easier to use since it never needs pumping. In addition, it can be moved to any location accessible to a garden hose for easy spraying. The greatly improved efficiency of this spraying system results from the introduction of two synergistic factors not found in the conventional compressed air sprayers: (1) a fixed, continuously maintained pressure allowing the operator to set the spray to precisely produce the best spray for that particular requirement, and (2) the probability that the pressure at the nozzle will be approximately two to three times higher (23# avg. vs. 50 to 80#), permitting a further reduction in droplet size and the consequent greater coverage. The overall increase in coverage may be as much as four times that of conventional equipment.
However, the '852 sprayer does leave room for improvement in it's design and construction in four ways: (a) design of the attachment of the pressurizing bladder to the cap; (b) means to safely manage the excess water supply and/or pressure; (c) ease of application of the spray to garden and foliage by reducing the necessity of moving the spray tank; and (d) design of a pressurizing bladder to prevent said bladder from sealing off the discharge assembly, thereby preventing flow of spray solution into the spray hose.